Tuesday, September 25, 2018

With real wheels in short supply, wooden ones are attached to a Royal Air Force (RAF) P-51 Mustang fighter so it can easily be moved around the ramp at the Inglewood, California, plant of North American Aviation.


6 comments:

  1. That wheel really does so 'do not inflate'.

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  2. Looks like a P-51B with those extended barrels

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    1. You can see the shape of the fuselage on the AC in the background of the photo. The UK was the original customer for the P51. So yea, those could be A or B models. The similar C model was built in Dallas.

      I always like the looks of the early model Mustang over the D and newer.

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  3. It is an RAF Mustang I, the Allison engine powered low-altitude fighter, with 4 x 20mm wing-mounted cannon (as shown), or 4 x .50 cal. wing-mounted machine-guns with another 2 x .50s low down on the engine cowling (one either side of the V-12's sump) firing through the propeller's arc. Otherwise similar to the US P-51A model, the 4 x .50 gun P-51B and C models were Packard Merlin V-1650 jobs known to the Poms as Mustang II & IIIs. The US 6 x .50 wing-gun P-51D was called the Mustang IV by the Poms, while the Australian-made IVs (with Rolls-Royce Merlin V-12s) were the A68 models in RAAF use. I reckon the US's ground-attack dedicated model, the A-36 (armoured engine and cooling system) looks cool but mean with it's 2 x 37mm cannon or 6 x .50 guns (setup like the A model), Allison V-1710 and 3-blade airscrew for it's low altitude role. I agree with Wookie, the II & III razorback models, but with the Spitfire's improved vision Malcom hood are almost elegant looking aeroplanes!

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